-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A U.S. airstrike in Syria appears to have killed a key French jihadist who is part of the militant Khorasan Group , a U.S. defense official said Thursday morning .

The strike happened overnight Wednesday near Idlib , according to the official , who has access to the latest information about the strikes .

The U.S. military fired at a vehicle it believed carried David Drugeon , a skilled bomb-maker in his 20s who also has ties to core al Qaeda members in Pakistan , said the official , who spoke on condition of anonymity .

The Khorasan Group is made up of senior al Qaeda leaders who have moved into Syria .

Later Thursday morning , the U.S. military 's Central Command announced that five U.S. airstrikes targeted the Khorasan Group in Syria on Wednesday night .

Drugeon was not mentioned in the announcement . But the command said that it has `` initial indications that -LRB- the strikes -RRB- resulted in the intended effects . ''

The airstrikes hit terrorists and destroyed or severely damaged several Khorasan Group vehicles and buildings , the command said in a news release . The military said it believes the buildings were used for meetings , bomb-making and training .

The strikes happened in the area of Sarmada , Syria , the military said . Sarmada is about 18 miles -LRB- 30 kilometers -RRB- northeast of Idlib .

The United States targeted the Khorasan Group with a series of strikes in Syria in September .

Those attacks came amid intelligence that suggested the group was plotting against a target in the U.S. homeland as well as other Western targets , a senior U.S. official told CNN at the time .

Converted bomb-maker 's beginnings

Dangerous operative

Intelligence indicated that Khorasan was in the final stages of planning terrorist attacks in the West , including against American aviation .

Sources said that among the devices Khorasan 's bomb-makers were developing to try to beat airport security were bombs made out of clothing dipped in explosive solution and explosives concealed in personal electronics .

U.S. officials told CNN 's Barbara Starr and Pamela Brown in October that Drugeon may have been actively involved in these efforts , which also involved technology transfers from al Qaeda 's master bomb-maker in Yemen , Ibrahim al Asiri .

In July , the Transportation Security Administration banned cell phones without electronic charge from airplane cabins in response to the intelligence , much of it fragmentary , that was coming in on the plans .

Drugeon 's knowledge of explosives , European background and access to Western fighters in Syria makes him arguably one of the most dangerous operatives in the entire global al Qaeda network .

Path to radicalization

Drugeon was born in 1989 in a blue-collar and immigrant neighborhood dotted with social housing on the outskirts of Vannes on the Atlantic coast of Brittany , according to Eric Pelletier , a reporter with L'Express who has extensively reported on Drugeon and shared his findings with CNN .

By all accounts , Drugeon had a very normal childhood . His father was a bus driver and his mother a secretary and committed Catholic .

He had an elder brother who shared his passion for the French soccer team Olympic Marseilles and he got good grades at school . But like a significant number of others who later took the path to radicalization , his parents ' divorce when he was 13 was traumatic .

Drugeon began acting out , and his grades at school nosedived . He began hanging out with a group of young Muslims in the neighborhood who espoused a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam . Before he turned 14 he converted , changing his name to Daoud .

`` Drugeon was radicalized over a period of several years . A local imam played a key role . He was part of group of about a half-dozen Salafi Muslims in the town , '' Pelletier told CNN .

By 2010 , Drugeon was on the radar screen of French security services and had made several trips to Egypt to learn Arabic and more about Islam . He funded the trips by taking driving jobs . In April that year , he slipped away from France for good , traveling via Cairo for the tribal areas of Pakistan , to join the jihad against U.S. forces in Afghanistan .

Journey to Syria

According to Pelletier , French intelligence established that Drugeon joined a small al Qaeda subgroup known as Jund-al-Khilafah , based in the Miran Shah area .

Drugeon first learned how to make bombs in the tribal areas of Pakistan , and over time became skilled in making explosives . He took on a new fighting name `` Souleiman '' and made several forays into Afghanistan , according to Pelletier .

Drugeon is believed to have left Pakistan sometime in 2013 or very early 2014 , and to have traveled to Syria to join up with the Khorasan group . A significant number of al Qaeda operatives were making the same journey , convinced that Syria now offered a better sanctuary away from the sight lines of U.S. drones .

U.S. officials told CNN they believe Drugeon has been heavily involved in facilitating the movement of fighters to and from Europe , and in planning attacks in Europe .

@highlight

U.S. military says five airstrikes against Khorasan Group apparently had `` intended effects ''

@highlight

Official : A U.S. airstrike in Syria appears to have killed French bomb-maker David Drugeon

@highlight

Drugeon is part of the militant Khorasan Group ; also has ties to al Qaeda in Pakistan

@highlight

Drugeon converted to Islam as a teenager ; traveled to Pakistan , then Syria